I'm always glad when parents tell me their children are adventurous eaters at school but not at home.
OK, maybe we're not talking adventurous. Maybe your kids are just willing to try something when it is presented by the teacher...or the nanny...or the grandparents...or...well, anyone but you. It's frustrating if your child is a super eater at school. But it can also be a … [Read more...]

You can use lunch to raise kids who:
Eat a wide variety of healthy foods
Know how to put junk into their diets in the right proportion
Don't soothe their souls with sweets and treats
Unfortunately, school lunches often reinforce the wrong habits.
For instance, sending the same lunch every day teaches kids to expect monotony, not variety. You can teach variety … [Read more...]

If you "listen" to the Internet, you've got to pack super-cute lunches in super-cute lunch boxes.
I've ranted before about how I hate all those fabulous photos of things like quinoa crusted pizzettes and kale salad with lentil sprouts. Too much perfection (and my daugther eats happily eats all those foods). Read Don't Worry About Packing the Perfect Back-to-School … [Read more...]

Experts are always telling parents to make food fun. I’m here to tell you that this is misguided advice.
I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with fun food. Everyone enjoys a little levity in their diets. I’m just saying you don’t have to make food fun.
I’ll even go one step farther: regularly making food fun teaches kids the wrong lessons.
Who came up with … [Read more...]

fun
This is the fifth installment in my series: The Step-by-Step, Blow-by-Blow Guide to Introducing New Foods that's Guaranteed to Change How Your Kids Eat. If you are new to this series, start here.
The question I want you to consider today is whether your family has fun at meals.
Remember, you're still on vacation and vacation usually means fun!
The research … [Read more...]

Today is the start of the step-by-step, blow-by-blow guide to introducing new foods that I promised.
There are three phases.
Team Building
Growing a Good Taster
Moving from Tasting to Eating
I can't tell you how long each phase will take because that really is going to be determined by your individual situation. I can tell you this: Don't try to rush through … [Read more...]

It can take toddlers 10-14 times of tasting a new food before they'll like it.
Everyone knows this, right? And it can take picky eaters even longer.
Getting to the magic number can be a real challenge. That's why most parents give up on a new food after serving it 4 times.
So here's the question: If it's pretty much guaranteed that your child won't like a new food … [Read more...]

Feeding an undereater can be unnerving.
And I understand. Our job is to nourish our kids.
Add in a little pediatrician pressure—"Do whatever you have to to get your child to eat more"—and feeding an undereater can be downright frightening.
So, here's the question: What should you do when your undereater misbehaves at the table?
Toni wrote:
"I would love to hear … [Read more...]